Transcript
Introduction
Charlie, truly, is one of a kind. I recognized that in 1959, when I first met him, and I've been discovering unique qualities in him ever since. Anyone who's had even the briefest contact with Charlie would tell you the same. But usually, they would be thinking of his, shall we say, behavioral style.
Miss Manners clearly would need to do a lot of work on Charlie before she would grant him a diploma. To me, however, what makes Charlie special is his character. It's true that his mind is breathtaking. He's as bright as any person I'd ever met and still has a memory that I would kill for. He was born though with these abilities. It's how he has elected to use them that makes me regard him so highly.
In 41 years, I've never seen Charlie try to take advantage of anyone, nor have I seen him claim the least bit of credit for anything that he didn't do. In fact, I've witnessed exactly the opposite. He has knowingly let me and others have the better end of a deal and has always shouldered more than his share of blame when things go wrong and accepted less than his share of credit when the reverse has been true. He is generous in the deepest sense and never lets ego interfere with rationality. Unlike most individuals who hunger for the world's approval, Charlie judges himself entirely by an inner scorecard, and he's a tough grader.
On business matters, Charlie and I agree at a very high percentage of the time. On social issues, we sometimes see things differently. But despite the fact that we both cherish our strong opinions, we have never, in our entire friendship, had an argument nor found disagreement or reason to be disagreeable. It is very difficult to imagine Charlie on a corner in a Salvation Army uniform. No, make that impossible to imagine. But he seems to have embraced the charity’s creed of “Hate the sin but not the sinner.” And speaking of sin, Charlie even brings rationality to that subject. He concludes that sins such as lust, gluttony, and sloth are to be avoided.
Nevertheless, he understands transgressions in these areas since they often produce instant, albeit fleeting pleasure. Envy, however, strikes him as the silliest of the 7 deadly sins, since it produces nothing pleasant at all. To the contrary, it's simple -- it simply makes the practitioner feel miserable. I've had an enormous amount of fun in my business life and far more than if I had not partnered up with Charlie. With his Mungerisms, he has been highly entertaining, and he has also shaped my thinking in a major way. Though many would label Charlie a businessman, I would opt for teacher. And Berkshire clearly is a much more valuable and admirable company because of what Charlie has taught us.
That was Warren Buffett writing in the foreword of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is D*** Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger, and it was written by Janet Lowe. So this is now the fourth book that I've read on Charlie and the fourth podcast that I've done on him. So if you haven't gone back and listened to the other episodes in case you're not aware of them, it's #78, The Tao of Charlie Munger; #79, Charlie Munger, The Complete Investor; and #90, Poor Charlie's Almanack.